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As last reported in 2011 (it can sometimes take forever to get up-to-date statistics), about 51 per cent of Canadians put winter tires on their cars.

As Quebec makes using winter tires mandatory by law, the fact of the matter is that the rest of the country is lagging behind.

Kal Tire, a national retail chain, aims to tap into that non-winter tire market. They are importing five new lines of all-weather tires for those drivers who want winter grip but don’t want to own eight tires for their car.

In basic terms, an all-weather tire has passed the Transport Canada tests for a winter tire. Unlike winter-only tires, all-weather tires can be driven all-year round.

Studies have shown that the cost of winter tires is seen as a negative. Reader mail from the GTA tells me that the lack of storage space and the hassle of moving tires back and forth twice a year are also big concerns.

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Kal Tire saw the light a few years ago and began importing the Nokian WR, the first all-weather tire from Finland. Last year in a survey, Kal Tire found that 64 per cent of its clients who had not changed to winter tires were considering buying all-weather tires for their next purchase.

“We don’t think drivers realize how dangerous all-seasons are in the winter, or that they have a much safer year-round tire option,” says Carey Hull, director of retail products for Kal Tire.

Price and a lack of consumer knowledge about this new class of tires kept market growth low. Another problem was that you could count all the brands of tires available on the fingers of one hand. Canadian Tire had exclusive rights to the Hankook Optimo 4S, independent tire dealers had the Vredestein Quatrac, and Kal Tire had the Nokian line.

The Nokian WR is a premium-priced tire. For this winter, Kal Tire asked Nokian to produce a mid-level cost alternative all-weather tire. Nokian has produced the Nordman WR and, for good measure, reworked their Rotiiva AT truck tires so that they earned the winter snowflake badge.

Additionally two other tire manufacturers, Nitto and Muteki, redesigned and certified their truck tires for winter.

The all-weather truck tires now run the gamut of pavement use (Nokian Rotiiva) to all-terrain (Muteki Trail Hog) to off-roading (Nitto Exo Grappler AWT). They are available in sizes for up to ¾ ton trucks.

The premium Nokian WR line is now up to its third generation (G3) for cars and SUVs. And the mileage warranty is up to 100,000 kilometers for most sizes.

This WR generation has added polished rubber inside the grooves for quicker slush ejection, and a dimple design on the edges of the outermost groove for quieter running at highway speeds. Rolling resistance has been improved by 12 per cent for better fuel economy.

Last year, this tire won Consumer Reports’ performance winter category.

The Nordman WR line is essentially the previous generation of the Nokian line. Using the slightly older technology saves on average about 22 per cent on retail costs.

“We’ve had the Nokian WR all-weather tire for years, but we needed to give customers a value-priced, high quality option. Now there’s no excuse for using all-seasons in the winter,” says Hull, adding that Kal Tire also wanted to accommodate Canada’s growing light truck market, and give more choices to fleets.

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